Grow Up!
Ashley Banks and Jade Young
November 2 - December 7, 2024
BG Projects at New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art is proud to present Grow Up!, a ceramics-focused art exhibition by studio buddies and friends Ashley Banks and Jade Young. Grow Up! will be on view from November 2 – December 7, 2024. An Artists’ reception will be held on Saturday, November 16, 3–5 pm CT. The artists ask patrons to join them during the reception for a bracelet making activity, jelly bean guessing contest, and light refreshments. Additionally there will be a toy capsule machine filled with ceramic wares available for purchase. Regular gallery hours are 10 am – 5 pm, Tuesday – Saturday.
“The term “grow up” is a derogatory remark used to insult a person for being silly. In Grow Up!, we explore embracing your inner child and re jecting the notion of leaving behind the magical and wonderful parts of yourself for the sake of maturing. We evoke thematics of clowns, child hood nostalgia, and growing up. We do this by including imagery of the circus, buttons and textiles, and toys as physical representations of play. The works in Grow Up! do this through a format of kitsch, hyper color, and super-silly charm.”
~Ashley & Jade
Ashley Banks is a multimedia artist and art educator from Washington, IN. She is attending the University of Southern Indiana and will complete her B.S. in Studio Art and Pk-12 Art Education in Spring 2025. She has exhibited her artwork around Southern Indiana for the past three years. Ashley serves as an Education Guide at the Children’s Museum of Evansville and as the Summer Studio Monitor at the New Harmony Clay Project. She lives and works in Evansville, IN alongside her husband Benjamin Grubbs, and their two fat rabbits.
Jade Young is a ceramicist from Evansville, Indiana. She graduated from the University of Southern Indiana in 2024 with a B.A. in Studio Art and Graphic Design. She has previously worked as a Studio Technician at the USI Dowhie Ceramics Center. Jade currently works at Sam’s Club as a Baker. She has exhibited her artwork locally for many years. She currently resides in Evansville alongside her mannequins.
